Georgia has contacted both the NCAA and the SEC in regards to accusations involving possible improper benefits received by linebacker Jarvis Jones and basketball recruit Kentavious Caldwell-Pope while the two participated in an AAU basketball team in Columbus, Ga. The alleged benifits came to light in a report by the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.
"Columbus police interviews conducted during an investigation of the Parks and Recreation Department reveal that director Tony Adams and top lieutenant Herman Porter may have jeopardized the amateur status of two University of Georgia athletes who played on the Georgia Blazers, their city-funded, Nike-sponsored AAU basketball team.
Police records show that an unauthorized bank account controlled by Adams and Porter was used to pay for flights to and from Los Angeles for Jarvis Jones, a two-sport star at Carver High School who played football for one season at the University of Southern California, and for the cell phone bill of the mother of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a five-star shooting guard from Greenville High School."
While Georgia athletes involved with NCAA rules is nothing new (see A.J. Green), a scandal that could affect both the football and basketball programs at the same time has to be one for the record books. And probably something that neither Mark Richt or Mark Fox was looking forward to.
(via Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

Wisconsin had a good news/bad news kind of day when it came to transfers on Monday. The good news is that former North Carolina State quarterback Russel Wilson announced his intent to transfer to Wisconsin. The bad news came with the news of the transfer to Pittsburgh by running back Zach Brown.
Wilson had been highly sought-after by both Wisconsin and Auburn since his decision to transfer from NC State earlier this year. He had been deciding on whether to continue playing college football, or to continue as a member of the Colorado Rockies minor league farm system. Russel graduated from NC State after three season, and will be eligible to play in 2011.
On the other hand, running back Zach Brown announced he was transferring to Pitt on Monday as well. While he ran for 568 yards in his freshman year, his playing time had been limited due to the Badgers being loaded at the running back position. Like Russel, Brown graduated from Wisconsin and is eligible to play for the Panthers in 2011.
(via ESPN, CBS Sports)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

(Covering Dixie Like Mildew is the SWRT roundup of SEC news, with the occasional pesky Southern school from another conference.)
Sophomore slump? What sophomore slump?
Fletcher Proctor asks whether Gerogia quarterback Aaron Murray can duplicate the sophomore year success of predecessors David Greene and Matthew Stafford. (ChuckOliver.net)
Mission Accomplished.
Mark Richt has returned from a week-long fact-finding trip with World Vision to Honduras. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Time to upgrade?
Scott Rabalias questions whether an expansion to LSU's Tiger Stadium is really necessary. Shut up, Scott. (The Advocate)
Time to upgrade? Part deux.
Meanwhile, ticket sales due to Mississippi State's recent success may force the school to expand Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field in 2013 0r 2014. Better make sure Dan Mullen sticks around first. (The Clarion Ledger)
Big screen excitement.
Mississippi State, Alabama, and Georgia are picked by The Chattanooga Times-Free Press has having the best pre-game videos. (Chattanooga Times-Free Press)
Recruiting analysts say watch out for Vanderbilt.
Because recruiting analysts are never wrong when it come to this kind of thing, right? (The Birmingham News)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

As if the cases of Kobe Bryant and that group of skivvy-clad soccer players weren't enough, along comes Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton to once again show the world that athletes should stay far, far, away from fashion shoots. This shot of Newton is from the July, 2011 issue of GQ. All he needs is a pair of Army-issue birth control glasses, and he'd be Steve Urkel in that outfit.
Meanwhile, Newton has also been filming a commercial or commercials for Under Armour in Valencia, California. Tom Brady also involved in filming the ads. And reportedly Justin Timberlake is along for the ride to. He must be out there helping Newton bring sexy back.
(via al.com, The War Eagle Reader)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

Alabama's defeat of Virginia Tech in the 2009 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game set the stage for the Crimson Tide's undefeated BCS championship season. Reports are surfacing that a return visit to Atlanta could be in the works for the Crimson Tide and the Hokies in 2013.
"(Virginia) Tech athletic director Jim Weaver confirmed Friday that he is in negotiations for a potential rematch between the Hokies and Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff to start the 2013 season, which would be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
“There’s some potential to it,” Weaver said. “It’s nothing that’s set in stone. The executive director of the Chick-fil-A Bowl, Gary Stokan, approached us.”
The 2009 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game helped put that yearly event on the map as a major event on the college football calendar. Like most Hollywood sequels, though, a lot will depend on making the possible Tide-Hokies rematch as successful as the first one. How the two programs fare on the gridiron in the next two seasons will be the main one.
(via The Virginian-Pilot. HT: ChuckOliver.net)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

Taking the lead.
Mississippi State is fast becoming the "flagship" school in the Magnolia State, outpacing Ole Miss by a mile. (Banditref)
Urban Legend.
Urban Meyer will be in the booth as an ESPN color commentator. Insert snarky comment about "wanting to have more family time" here. (Dr. Saturday)
The Grand Tour.
A video look inside Auburn's new practice facility. (al.com)
The Basement Tapes, Auburn edition.
Auburn quarterback Barrett Trotter recently spoke at The Basement, a youth ministry in Birmingham. (The War Eagle Reader)
A Few Small Repairs.
Tennessee is spending $255,000 to refurbish practice fields, which had drainage issues in 2010. (ChuckOliver.net)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

(Unquiet on the Western Front is SWRT's look at the Pac-12, WAC, Mountain West, and other West Coast/Rocky Mountain schools extravaganza.)
Membership has its privileges.
New Pac-12 member Utah stands to benefit from more exposure via the conference's $3 billion dollar television deal. (The Salt Lake Tribune)
A Few Good Ducks.
The Oregon-Will Lyles saga re imagined as the courtroom showdown between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson's characters in A Few Good Men. (Addicted to Quack)
Washington-Nebraska game preview.
UW Dawg Pound thinks The Huskies have a chance against the Huskers. I don't. (UW Dawg Pound)
Well, somebody had to do it.
After four years, he New Mexico Bowl finally gets a sponsor in apparel manufacturer Gildan. (The MWC.com)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

Northwestern head football coach Pat Fitzgerald gave an update on quarterback Dan Persa's rehab from the Achilles' tendon injury than ended his 2010 season at a Coaches' Caravan stop at Ditka's Restaurant in Chicago.
"* Fitzgerald said that rehabbing quarterback Dan Persa is "on a pitch count -- 75 balls a day. He’s probably trying to throw a few more. He’s a workaholic. If the workout is called for two hours, he’ll do four. Then he’ll go (voluntarily) to watch tape and take some teammates with him.”
Fitzgerald added: "If you didn’t notice, at the end of last year, we really stunk without (Persa). So, yeah, he’s really important."
Considering that with Persa, Northwestern is being considered a dark horse for the Big Ten championship. Fitzgerald comment on Persa isn't an overstatement.
(via The Chicago Tribune)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

(Big Tentacles is the SWRT look at the Big Ten and the schools it not-so-secretly covets.)
Movin' on up to the top.
With Jim Tressel out, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz becomes the Big Ten's best coach when it comes to beating the spread. The worst? Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald. (The Gazette)
Caravan of Love.
Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips spoke to Northwestern fans at a Coaches' Caravan stop at Ditka's Restaurant in Chicago about refurbishing the school's sports facilities, and a possible new football practice facility. (The Chicago Tribune)
Hand in Glove
Adidas provides Nebraska with new gloves emblazoned with the school's big "N" on them. (Corn Nation)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

Stephen Garcia as The Most Interesting Man in the World? Probably not. Though I can believe that when he does drink beer, he's probably downed a Dos Equis or two before.
(via Block-C)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

(Crossing the Atlantic is a look at the ACC and other schools on the East Coast.)
J'accuse!
A look at the charges the NCAA is making against former North Carolina defensive line coach John Blake. (Dr. Saturday)
How Will the Wolf Tar Heel Survive?
Meanwhile, Tom Dienhart discusses whether or not Blake's former boss, Butch Davis, will be able to keep his job as North Carolina head football coach in the wake of the scandal that rocked Chapel Hill. (Rivals.com)
Taking it to the bank.
Maryland schedules games at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore against West Virginia in 2013, and ACC rival Virginia Tech in 2014. (SB Nation Washington DC)
Bees in the Georgia Dome?
An argument as to why Georgia Tech should accept a possible invitation to the 2013 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta. (From the Rumble Seat)
What if West Virginia and Pittsburgh joined the ACC?
Because the ACC's first raid on the Big East has done so much for the conference. (BC Interruption)
BASKETBALL
How You Remind Me.
Deadspin came up with "A List Of People To Whom The Internet Has Compared Kyle Singler." You can pretty much guess where the list went from there. (Deadspin)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

Penn State head football coach may be receiving a big honor. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has a bill in front of it calling for September 3, 2011 to be declared "Coach Paterno Day" in honor of Joe Pa. The resolution states the following.
"Encouraging The Pennsylvania State University to appropriately recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of football coach Joseph Vincent “Joe” Paterno, affectionately known by fans as “Joe Pa,” for his 62 years of service to The Pennsylvania State University students and athletes and to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and recognizing September 3, 2011, as “Coach Paterno Day” in Pennsylvania."
Sept. 3, of course, is the anniversary of when Europeans first entered the region Pennsylvania, and were greeted by there by JoePa.
Of course, how do celebrate Coach Paterno Day? Have a "Party in the USA," of course.
Penn State, you're never going to live that moment down. Never.
(via ESPN)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

(Dancing in the Ruins is SWRT's look at the Big XII Conference...or at least what's left of it.)
Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?
Oklahoma State reveals plans for a new indoor training facility for football. (ESPN)
College Football is not in trouble.
Because Oklahoma head football Bob Stoops coach says it isn't. (Tulsa World)
The Man Without a Country (or a coaching job, for that matter).
Chadd Scott examines former Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach's Sirius/XM radio program, and declares that his views make him "unhireable" by another college football program. (Chuck Oliver.net)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

A storm-battered American flag is used to symbolize the spirit of the Tuscaloosa area that was ravaged by tornadoes in April. Alabama Alumni Magazine's latest issue looks at how the community banded together to recover from the massive damage left behind, and profiles the Alabama alumni who volunteered to help storm victims and to clean up storm damaged areas. It also mentions Toomers for Tuscaloosa, the organization of Auburn fans who organized online to help recovery efforts.
(via Roll 'Bama Roll)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles

(Covering Dixie Like Mildew is the SWRT roundup of SEC news, with the occasional pesky Southern school from another conference.)
Sykes-out.
Tennessee announces that defensive tackle Rae Sykes is off the team “at this time” for academic-related issues. (Knoxville News Sentinel)
Night at the Museum.
Tennessee head football coach Derek Dooley spoke last Friday night at a Rotary Club function held at the Museum Center at 5ive Points in Cleveland, TN. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
Weight of the World.
While at the Museum, Dooley responded at a question about whether or not Tennessee star quarterback Tyler Bray had added any weight to his rake-thin frame this offseason by saying “I don’t get a daily weight report on Tyler, but he is working hard.” (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
You're not a kid anymore.
A judge in the state of Alabama refused to give youthful offender status to Shaun Kitchens, one of the four former Auburn players accused of armed robbery in the incident that broke the Fulmer Cup. (al.com)
Florida's Charlie Weis is the SEC's most intriguing offensive coordinator.
Because David Paschall said so. Shut up, David. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
Please release me, let me go.
Arkansas grants the request of guard Rontei Clarke to be released from scholarship so he can transfer. (Arkansas Sports 360)]
In Your Honor.
Retired Mississippi State play-by-play announcer Jack Cristil will be honored with a stretch of Highway 82 near Starkville, MI named after him. (The Clarion Ledger)
Originally Pubished at: Shirts With Random Triangles